OPINION:
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China’s national television, print and social media have released the latest pictures of the country’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, a designated CV-18 that is conducting its first underway sea trials.
China state media will hype its capabilities while some Western commentators will note its shortcomings.
Both perspectives, however, miss the carrier’s significance.
As the country’s first indigenously designed and catapult-assisted takeoff and arrested recovery aircraft carrier, it represents a major step forward in the People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, expansion and modernization program.
The Fujian itself does not pose a major challenge to the U.S. Navy’s dominance in open ocean naval operations, and it is 10 to 14 months from becoming fully operational.
Its air wing, however, will be more powerful and have greater reach than any European aircraft carrier in service.
Moreover, with China’s fourth carrier nearing launch by the end of this year, the Fujian should be viewed as an advanced concept and doctrinal development platform intended to prepare the PLAN for the day when it becomes a global maritime force.
While the PLAN has embarked on large-scale and comparatively rapid growth in size and capabilities, it has taken a conservative and evolutionary approach to doing so. Each class of ship, including its carriers, has been incrementally better than its predecessors, and construction followed many studies and operational evaluations of the technologies involved.
Similarly, the PLAN’s doctrine, procedures and tactics have evolved in accordance with the introduction of new systems. PLAN leaders recognize the Fujian’s benefits and shortcomings and, as they did with the Type 001 and 002 carriers, The Liaoning and Shandong are using the lessons learned from its construction to make the follow-on Type 004-class carrier more capable. They will take the same educational approach to the Fujian’s operations.
The Fujian’s electromagnetic aircraft launch system, or EMALS, does represent a major technical advancement, but its air wing and offensive strike capabilities are far below those of the United States’ latest Nimitz — and Ford-class carriers but superior to those of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth-class vessels and France’s aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle, Europe’s two most powerful carriers.
The de Gaulle’s nuclear power gives it greater strategic reach, but once it is in the operating area, the Fujian will enjoy the advantage of greater battle space management and aerial striking power. Its air wing will be larger, with 50 to 60 aircraft versus 30 to 40 on current carriers, and its EMALS gives it the ability to launch its aircraft more rapidly.
In addition, the Fujian’s air wing will include the tanking and airborne early warning and control system aircraft that the British aircraft carriers lack. That will enable the Fujian to launch its strikes from longer ranges or with greater ordnance loads; and direct its operations and those of its accompanying strike group more effectively. Finally, it is faster than the de Gaulle, sailing at 32 knots versus 27 knots, which offers many advantages in combat and conditions of slow to no wind.
Thus, the Fujian reflects a trend that portends a coming challenge that the United States cannot ignore. Its sea trials and subsequent operations will serve as experiments and a schoolhouse to refine the PLAN’s vision for its aircraft carrier force. The coming Type 004 aircraft carrier is expected to have tactical combat capabilities approaching if not equal to those of the latest U.S. Navy aircraft carriers when the first unit enters service before this decade’s end.
The Fujian’s combat power may be inferior to that of Ford-class carriers, but it would be a mistake to discount its capabilities. It should be viewed as a potential contribution to China’s military options in the areas where Beijing has been aggressively pressing its maritime claims. In those waters, the Fujian will enjoy air and ballistic missile support in the East and South China seas as well as the waters around Taiwan.
The Chinese military envisions its carriers as the forward elements of a comprehensive operational system incorporating air, missile and maritime power against America’s carrier strike groups. As such, it is developing the procedures and doctrine to integrate its air and rocket forces into maritime operations within and just beyond the “near seas,” or what the West calls the first island chain — which includes the Japanese archipelago, the Ryukyu Islands, the Kuril Islands, the northern Philippines, Taiwan and Borneo. Those efforts are in the early stages, but the Chinese military’s joint operations are improving, and the Fujian will play a key role in shaping those efforts over the next two to three years.
More importantly, the lessons learned will be applied to employing the Type 004 and later carriers that will enter service between 2028 and 2030.
Equally important, the PLAN’s aircraft carrier construction choices and force structure will signal China’s maritime goals and intentions.
More immediately, the Type 004 will have an air wing, battle space management and flight operations capabilities approaching those of the Ford class. It most likely will be conventionally powered and lack the American carriers’ strategic mobility and endurance. But those won’t be decisive factors in the constrained waters of the South China Sea and areas close to China. But constructing a nuclear-powered carrier will signal China’s naval ambitions extend far beyond the “near seas.” Those carriers’ combat capabilities and strategic mobility will match our Navy carriers and be capable of challenging U.S. naval power in the Central Pacific and other waters far from U.S. soil.
Correction: Due to an editing error, the incorrect nation’s navy was referenced in relation to the Fujian sea trials in one instance.
• Carl O. Schuster is a retired Navy captain and a 25-year veteran who now teaches as an adjunct faculty member of Hawaii Pacific University’s Diplomacy and Military Studies program.
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